Industrialist Paul Weeks Litchfield is the subject of two free exhibits opening this weekend at the year-old Litchfield Park Historical Society Museum.

“Paul Weeks Litchfield: The Man and his Vision” will focus on the life and work of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. president and chairman of the board, who founded Litchfield Park. “Rancho la Loma: A Spiritual Retreat” will look at the compound he established as his winter residence.

Displayed in the museum’s Julia Denny Sweeney Gallery, the Litchfield exhibit will include photos — many of them have never been made public before — of the man from infancy until three months before his death in 1959.

There also will be interior and exterior shots of his homes in Ohio, Massachusetts and Litchfield Park.

Threaded throughout the exhibit will be quotes from the American industrialist and memorabilia, including his wedding invitation, a notebook with a list of wedding presents and information about Litchfield’s close involvement with the Boy Scouts of America.

“Litchfield wasn’t driven by power. He was driven to make things better for everybody, which was so forward-thinking,” said Judy Cook, vice president of the Litchfield Park Historical Society.

“He seemed like such a common and humble man, yet was so brilliant in pulling things together and making things happen.”

Litchfield, a direct descendent of Mayflower pilgrims, came to Arizona in 1916 in search of land to grow long-staple cotton for Goodyear’s pneumatic tires.

In his position with Goodyear, Litchfield was internationally known and traveled in circles with such notables as Charles Lindbergh and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. But “he loved Arizona and loved to come out here,” Cook said. He built Rancho la Loma as his Arizona winter retreat.

The Rancho la Loma exhibit will be in the museum’s Wigwam Gallery and will focus on interior and exterior shots of the home.

“The photographs will show the transformation (of Rancho la Loma) into a lush compound of small cottages — and the development of the gardens,” Cook said.

According to Cook, on the western edge of the property, Litchfield and his wife had Sunday “desert devotionals” in the springtime. These gatherings (with as many as 3,800 people) were similar to church services and were attended by such Valley elite as Barry Goldwater and Henry Grady Gammage.

“We hope people walk away with a better understanding and appreciation of Litchfield Park and Paul Litchfield himself and what he brought to the area and the state with farming and industry both,” said Nancy Schafer, Litchfield Park Historical Society public-relations specialist.

The museum has been open for a year and is housed in one of the cottages built by Litchfield in 1941. Its permanent collection includes a gallery dedicated to the Goodyear cotton farms and its effect on the growth of Phoenix; a second gallery contains the history of Litchfield Park.

“Paul Weeks Litchfield: The Man and His Vision” will be up for a year, and “Rancho la Loma: A Spiritual Retreat” will be up until next spring.

‘Paul Weeks Litchfield: The Man and His Vision’ and ‘Rancho la Loma: A Spiritual Retreat’

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